Raids Again, And Friday Linky

Yesterday the NZ terror raids took another bizarre turn, with a heavy-handed police raid on a pensioner active in Green campaigns. Beloved Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons was party of the political response:

“It is hard to see how disrupting a workshop on yeast-free bread-baking and seizing the underwear of the organisers of the very popular Eco Show, under the Terrorism Suppression Act, is contributing to protecting the New Zealand public.”

What is clear is that this operation is losing its claim to the benefit of the doubt. It is increasingly hard to believe that the police have the evidence to back up this series of raids. Furthermore, I have to wonder how deep the SIS is in this – the scale of surveillance being alluded to by police is surely beyond the means of the police; the SIS must be involved in some way, at the least sharing surveillance data, and at most driving the whole operation. Probably somewhere in between.
Strange times.
Some excellent commentary at buzzandhum and spleen. If you’ve been following this, check them both out.
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And a bit of Friday linky to round things off. Just two:
The Map of Humanity. An incredibly detailed map of a fictional world where everything is named for virtues, vices, and places real and imagined. Gormenghast Castle is just north of Derry; the nation of Lust includes the cities Xanadu, Babylon and Manchester. Incredible.
And the best story the Onion’s done in years: Reaganomics finally trickles down to area man.